General Revenue Fund collections in December were $512.6 million and came in at $36.6 million, or 7.7 percent, above the monthly estimate. This amount is $93.1 million, or 22.2 percent above collections in December of 2016. Total collections over the first six months of the fiscal year were $2.7 billion which is $75.2 million, or 2.9 percent, above the year-to-date estimate and $278.1 million, or 11.6 percent, over the year-to-date for 2016.
“Once again we exceeded the monthly estimate for the month and that is a positive sign,” said Secretary of Finance, Administration and Information Technology Preston L. Doerflinger. “Conversely, I would caution anyone who is using unrestrained adjectives to describe our current financial position. This has been, and will continue to be, a touch and go situation as we climb our way out of the economic damage caused by the downturn in the energy sector. “
Total income tax collections were up by $29.7 million, or 15.9 percent for the month, with individual income tax collections coming in 21.8 percent above prior year collections. Corporate income tax again made no contribution to the General Revenue Fund due to erratic patterns.
“For months I have urged cautious optimism and that is what has been playing out with the returns to the General Revenue Fund, but do not mistake these small increases as an indicator that we don’t need to create new recurring revenue. The state will continue the cycle of using one time funds to plug the budget hole if we do not make significant structural changes to our budget. The modest increases we are seeing month-to-month will not fix the state’s ongoing budget issues,” said Doerflinger.
“The incremental progress we have seen the past few months is mostly due to law changes from last session taking effect, but it also shows that when the Legislature does act, it can make an impact on the state’s bottom line,” Doerflinger added.
As state government’s main operating fund, the GRF is the key indicator of state government’s fiscal status and the predominant funding source for the annual appropriated state budget. GRF collections are revenues that remain for the appropriated state budget after rebates, refunds and mandatory apportionments. Gross collections, reported by the State Treasurer, are all revenues collected by the state before rebates, refunds and mandatory apportionments.
Doerflinger is Secretary of Finance, Revenue and Information Technology and is currently serving as interim commissioner of the Oklahoma State Department of Health. Denise Northrup is the interim director of OMES, which issues the monthly GRF reports.
Major tax categories in December contributed the following amounts to the GRF:
- Total income tax collections of $216.9 million were $29.7million, or 15.9 percent, above the estimate and $38.8 million, or 21.8 percent, above the prior year.Individual income tax collections of $216.9 million were $29.7 million, or 15.9 percent, above the estimate and $38.8 million, or 21.8 percent, above the prior year.Corporate income tax collections made no contribution to the General Revenue Fund from December collections and none were estimated to be received due to previous years’ history.
- Sales tax collections of $184.6 million were $8.1 million, or 4.6 percent, above the estimate and $24.8 million, or 15.5 percent, above the prior year.
- Gross production tax collections of $24.5 million were $15.3 million, or 38.4 percent, below the estimate and $9.2 million, or 59.8 percent, above the prior year.Natural gas collections of $20.6 million were $4.9 million, or 19.1 percent, below the estimate and $7.2 million, or 54 percent, above the prior year.Oil collections of $4.0 million were $10.4 million, or 72.5 percent, below the estimate and $2.0 million, or 98.7 percent, above the prior year.
- Motor vehicle tax collections of $16.0 million were $1.3 million, or 7.7 percent, below the estimate and $628,000, or 4.1 percent, above the prior year.
- Other revenue collections of $70.5 million were $15.5 million, or 28.1 percent, above the estimate and $19.7 million, or 38.6 percent, above the prior year.
